Elmhurst Man Rented Hazardous Apts.
Nearly four dozen residents were evacuated from four illegally converted homes owned by an Elmhurst landlord arrested last Tuesday, Mar. 26, for allegedly creating fire hazards and ignoring orders from the city to correct the conditions.
Segundo Chimbay, 48, of 94th Street faces up to four years in prison on charges of first-degree scheme to defraud, second-degree reckless endangerment and failing to obey vacate orders handed down by the city for four illegally subdivided properties he owns: a two-family residence at 48- 14 94th St. in Elmhurst; two two-family homes at 35-39 and 35-41 92nd St. in Jackson Heights; and a one-family dwelling at 40-33 Forley St. in Elmhurst.
Each of the residences were vacated last Tuesday night as part of a joint operation conducted by the Queens District Attorney’s NYPD Squad, the Department of Buildings (DOB) and the Department of Investigation (DOI). The American Red Cross provided temporary shelter to the 46 displaced residents, which included a dozen children.
According to law enforcement sources, Chimbay had been under investigation dating back to 2007 for illegally converting the four residences-as well as garages at three of the locations-into singleroom occupancies. In doing so, in- vestigators found improper means of egress and various fire hazards, including unauthorized gas lines.
“In addition to putting a strain on city services-such as parking, transportation, waste disposal and schools-illegal conversions endanger the lives of building residents as well as firefighters and other personnel who, in responding to an emergency, are confronted by a maze of rooms with no way out,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement last Wednesday. “Working with the NYPD, the FDNY, the Department of Buildings and the Department of Investigation, I will utilize all of the resources of my office to vigorously prosecute those who profit from such illegal housing.”
“Property owners who ignore vacate orders and allow illegal resiby dences break the law and endanger lives, a problem that is prevalent in Queens,” added DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.
“Illegal conversions can kill, and this arrest sends a clear message that property owners who create these dangerous living conditions will face serious consequences,” said DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri. He pointed out that the agency “has done more to combat illegal dwellings than ever before-including performing undercover operations to find illegal units, conducting safety outreach campaigns and working with multiple agencies to target properties most at risk.”
Vacate orders for the four residences Chimbay owns were ordered by the Buildings Department on multiple occasions between 2007 and 2012 after inspectors found that the residences, garages and basements were illegally converted. Law enforcement sources said that Chimbay allegedly ignored the orders and continued to rent out the unlawful units.
Over the last six years, prosecutors stated, Chimbay amassed more than $600,000 in fines issued by the Buildings Department of failing to comply with the vacate orders and correct building code violations. The case was referred to the Queens District
Attorney’s office by the Buildings Departments’ Quality of Life and Queens Enforcement units six weeks ago, Brown stated.
The locations were searched by the DA’s NYPD Squad last Tuesday, during which the illegal conditions found previously by inspectors were determined to be still in place. Detectives reportedly found unpermitted and unlawful construction of walls and electrical, plumbing and gas connections, as well as a lack of a secondary means of egress.
As a result of the conditions, the residents in all of the locations were evacuated.
Chimbay was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court last Wednesday, Mar. 27, before Judge Donna M. Golia, who ordered him held on $10,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to court on Wednesday, Apr. 10, and faces up to seven years behind bars if convicted.
In addition to the criminal charges, Chimbay was also named in a civil forfeiture action filed by the Queens District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau in which he could lose up to $1.6 million in assets.
The investigation was conducted by DOI Chief Investigator James McElligott and Special Investigators Faye Stephan, Tiffany Dumas and Erin Schultz, and DOB Chief Inspector
Philip Mattera, Inspector Igor Solovyanchik and attorney Lucina Latimer.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jasmine Chang and Nicole Lane of the Special Proceedings Bureau, assisted by Assistant District Attorney Andrew H. Kaufman, chief of the D.A.’s Crimes Against Revenue Unit. The civil forfeiture proceedings are being handled by Assistant District Attorney David S. Zadnoff, also of the Special Proceedings Bureau.
The bureau is supervised by Assistant District Attorneys Anthony M. Communiello, bureau chief, and Oscar W. Ruiz, deputy bureau chief.
